


Freedom

by Spartan5271



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Escaping Agent Callows, Gen, Grimm are people who can perform magic, Spells & Enchantments, The spells are in Latin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:33:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24722371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spartan5271/pseuds/Spartan5271
Summary: It has been one month since the GGB went into effect in the United States. The few living Grimm left in the States are being interrogated in the hopes of finding the Grimm haven known as Libertaria. One Grimm manages to escape with the help of others and is now trying once more to cross the border. Meanwhile, in Libertaria, things are not as perfect as one would expect. Tensions rise between the human and Grimm living there while some try to move on from their past.This is a sequel to my first story: EscapeBEING EDITED ALONGSIDE ESCAPE + Possible spin off of Ruby's time being interrogated by Tyrian
Relationships: & Means friends with possible development, Fiona Thyme & Coco Adel, Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc & Ruby Rose, Neo & Sun Wukong, Scarlet David & Neptune Vasilias
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

_ January 17th, 2041 _

_ 10:30 PM _

President Ironwood stood at the podium, his administrators behind him, and the press before him. Seeing the red lights on the camera turn on, Ironwood began to speak.

"Good morning, my fellow Americans. Today, the Senate has voted to bring the Grimm Genocide Bill to a conclusion. While we have had few reported sightings of any Grimm within the country, we are aware of the many reported sightings in the northern regions of the Canadian forests. To avoid any further tensions with Canada, the Prime Minister and I have come to an arrangement. The agreement emphasizes that any Grimm who escaped are no longer allowed to enter the country. In exchange, I promised that I would not send any troops into the Candian forests. I know that it has been a very stressful month. But know that this bill was created to ensure your safety, my fellow Americans. As for the concerns regarding the remaining Grimm in the country, know we are doing everything we can to locate and neutralize them as soon as possible. God Bless you, and God bless the United States of America."

_ January 18th, 2041 _

_ 1:23 AM _

In a pitch-black room, a beaten and bloodied young woman was hanging from the ceiling by her arms as her legs were latched to the ground. Her throat was dry, and her breath was wheezy. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her tears stung her dry skin. She does not know how long she has been there. It felt like an eternity... an eternity of pain. Hearing the door's latch open, the girl did not bother looking to see who had come to visit her.

Agent Tyrian Callows.

He turned on the lights, nearly blinding the girl after hours of living in the dark. 

"Good morning, Miss Rose. How was your day off?"

She did not answer. Even if she wanted to talk, she could not due to the duct tape that was over her mouth to prevent her from saying any spells.

"Cat got your tongue? I guess we gave you too much time off. Let's fix that," Agent Callows approached a console that was connected to the machine that held Ruby and pressed the only button on it.

Suddenly, Ruby felt a few hundred amps course through her body as she could only give a muffled scream as she writhed in pain.

"It is quite rude to not respond to someone who is asking you a question. I would ask if your father taught you that, but I doubt he would remember that," Agent Callows said as he let go of the button, causing the electricity to stop, "I hear that he went insane once he returned home. That he just sits in his house and is waiting to die."

Ruby looked to Callows as he continued, "Yes, I suppose reliving his wife's death would be quite... shocking for him."

Callows then pressed the button again, electrocuting Ruby again. This time though, Ruby began to shout gibberish behind the piece of tape.

"What's that? You're going to have to speak up for me to hear you," Agent Callows said as he ripped the duct tape off of Ruby's mouth.

"I… don't know… I have been telling you… that I don't know…"

This seemed to annoy Agent Callows as he simply sighed as he stood in front of Ruby, "Here is the thing, Miss Rose. If you do not tell me something that I need to know, then I have to report that to my superior, and if she gets upset… let's just say that your second life won't be as long as the first."

Ruby lowered her head, tears in her eyes, "Please..."

"Now… is there something you want to tell me," Agent Callows asked in a sincere tone as he stroked Ruby's cheek.

Ruby looked back at Agent Callows and said, "Go to hell…"

Agent Callows chuckled as he just pressed the button again, causing Ruby to scream in agony. This time, her screams echoed throughout the floor.

_ 2:34 AM _

_ Jaune opened his eyes to see the winter forest that has haunted him every night ever since the day he left the United States. The forest echoed with the sounds of gunfire and screaming. Blood sprays came from every direction until Jaune stood on top of a layer of bloodied snow. Looking down, he saw Pietro and Velvet dead at his feet. _

_ "Jaune…" _

_ Jaune slowly turned to the tree… to the tree that has been burned into his memory. Leaning against the tree was Ruby. Her body white and rotting, her eyes missing, but blood seeping out of her eye sockets and down her cheeks like tears. She raised her hand towards Jaune, the hand's skin falling off and her bones pointing at him. _

_ "You… left me... to DIE." _

Jaune shot up from his bed, his breathing was fast, and in a small pattern. His forehead was dripping with sweat. As he took in his surroundings, Jaune realized that he was in his new home.

He was in Liberteria.

Sighing from his nightmare, Jaune looked to his bedside table and saw the time.

_ 2:34 AM _

'Is it really that early…' Jaune thought to himself as he got out of bed.

Hearing a knock on his bedroom door, Jaune got out of bed and approached. Opening it, he was not really surprised to see Coco was standing there, her clothing consisting of pajama pants and a big t-shirt.

"You were talking in your sleep again…" Coco yawned.

"Just another dream…" Jaune said.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Maybe later…"

"Well… try to get some sleep. Ozpin said that he has an announcement tomorrow, and the two of us are up for work tomorrow."

Jaune simply nodded and shut the door. Walking back and sitting on his bed, Jaune looked over to the bedside table and reached into one of the drawers. Realizing that it was too dark to see what he was looking for, Jaune looked to the candle in a glass jar. Pinching his fingers on the wick, Jaune said, " _ Ignis _ ," and the candle was lit and gave a small glow to the room as Jaune continued to search through the drawer until he found what he was looking for.

It was the letter that Ruby wrote before they left Burlington. Opening it, Jaune tortured himself yet again by reading her letter.

_ "Hey, Jaune. Well, I suppose that if you are reading this, then that means that I'm, well, let's just say that I am not around anymore. But, if you are reading this, then that means that you made it out, and hopefully, so did Coco and Velvet. If someone else is reading this, then you are very rude to be reading something that does not belong to you. But for real Jaune, you have no idea how badly I wanted to see Liberteria. Ever since we met Willow and she described Liberteria, it was all that could think about. I wish that I could have seen it with you. But, I suppose that in a strange way, I did escape. Just not the version that I was thinking of. I know that we had some pretty interesting times together, as well as some pretty down moments, but I am glad that I had the chance to meet you, Jaune. Deep down, I hope that you will never have to read this… cause I would rather tell you all this in person. Love, Ruby Rose." _

"I'm sorry, Ruby…" Jaune cried as he held the letter close to his chest.

Jaune did not sleep for the rest of the night.

_ 2:50 AM _

Agent Callows wiped his hands with a towel as he stared at his prisoner with a smirk on his face.

"I need to discuss this interrogation with my boss. I am left to assume that you truly do not know where Liberteria is. Only a sadist would continue lying at this point. But then again, maybe you are enjoying this," Callows said as he patted Ruby's head.

Ruby watched as Agent Callows walked out of the room and shut the door, leaving her in the dark again. The only noise in that room was the echo of Ruby crying.

_ 3:00 AM _

On the ground floor of the federal building were a group of soldiers and a janitor. They were discussing some stories of past combat tours when the elevator door opened up, revealing Agent Callows.

"Go down to sub-level two and clean up cell #4. I may have gotten a bit… messy," Agent Callows said as he stared down at the specks of blood on his suit.

The janitor did not look up to the Agent and just began to proceed to the elevator. As Agent Callows watched the janitor get into the elevator, he felt something... familiar about them. But because he had more important duties to attend to, he looked to the group of soldiers.

"Escort the janitor down to the lower levels. We do not want to give the Grimm any chance."

"Yes sir," The blonde soldier saluted as he and the other soldiers walked to the elevator as well.

Once the doors shut, the soldier looked to the janitor and asked, "How long?"

The janitor held up seven fingers.

"Alright, we don't have much time, so let's be fast."

_ 3:03 AM _

The elevator door opened up, and the four individuals walked out of the elevator.

"God, I can't believe I have been here since 5 o'clock," The blonde soldier said.

Another soldier knew what this meant and saw the camera at the blonde's five o'clock. Using a baton that was attached to his person, he reached up and gently pushed it to the right until the camera was staring at the wall.

"Yeah, I think that I have been here since 7 o'clock," The redhead said as he did the same to the other camera on the opposite side of the hall.

Getting the thumbs up that the coast was clear, the janitor was quick to jog to cell #4 alongside the blonde soldier as he placed his hand on the scanner that was connected to the wall.

" _ Electricae _ ."

As the scanner began to malfunction, the two other soldiers kept watch on the door, ready for anything to come through the door.

Meanwhile, the janitor opened the door to see Ruby, who was still hanging from the ceiling and crying as she looked up at the group. As the blonde soldier entered, Ruby could just barely remember his face. She then saw the janitor's hair and she asked, "...Neo?"


	2. Mission Impossible: Grimm Protocol

_ January 18th, 2041 _

_ 3:05 AM _

"…Neo?"

The blonde removed his helmet, revealing that it was Sun, "I'm here too, you know."

Neo elbowed Sun in the side, to which Sun's usually positive attitude was replaced with a serious tone, "We'll explain later."

Before Ruby had a chance to say anything, Sun placed his hand on Ruby's head and said, " _ Insomnia _ ."

Ruby felt the spell take effect, and her vision went dark again.

"She's out," Sun said, "Neo, get ready to catch her."

Neo walked up to Ruby and stared at the girl, specifically her wounds.

'He did a number on you...' Neo thought to herself as she recalled being in a room close to this one.

_ 'Let's see which piggy will make you squeal.' _

_ A younger Neo screamed in agony as she watched the hammer come down. _

"Neo," Sun said.

Neo snapped back from her flashback and looked towards Sun, "Get ready."

Sun then used the electric spell to disable the console. The latches released, and Ruby fell directly into Neo's arms. Having a good hold on Ruby, Neo turned and carried her to the janitor cart. Neo looked to Sun, who was already ready to say, " _ Revelare _ ."

The janitorial cart morphed back into its true form: a clothing hamper. Neo placed Ruby inside of the basket before Sun transfigured the hamper back into a janitor bucket. The two then proceeded outside of the cell to see the others were still using their weapons to keep the cameras aimed at the walls.

"Alright, let's go," Sun said.

_ 3:07 AM _

The elevator doors opened on the general floor, and the five Grimm walked out as an actual janitor began to approach them.

"Hey, what's going on here. I thought that I was on duty this morning," the real janitor asked.

"New hire showed up before you did. You won't be needed until tomorrow," Sun said.

"Goddamnit, they could have said something to me before I drove here at two in the damn morning," The janitor said as he walked away.

The group was in the clear... for now.

_ 3:10 AM _

Agent Callows walked into his superior's office and saw that she was writing down a report. Walking in, he gained his boss's attention.

"Ah, Agent Callows. Have you managed to extract any information from Miss Rose?"

"...No, Director Salem, I have not."

This caused Director Salem to release a defeated sigh as she said, "Agent Callows, you have been interrogating Miss Rose for almost a month. Because of your effective interrogation skills, I have been willing to turn a blind eye to your more... questionable methods. But a month with no results? I am afraid that this is something that cannot be ignored."

"She knows something, Director. I feel it. Just give me more time."

"I am afraid that I cannot grant this request. You have a few minutes to say goodbye to your little plaything."

"...Yes, Director."

As Agent Callows began to walk back to the elevator, he heard the actual janitor talking on the phone.

"Hey, I am about to head home. Yeah, I thought so too, but apparently, some rookie was on shift today, and no one decided to tell me."

'Janitor?'

An image of Neo standing in the elevator came to his mind as his eyes widened. If what he believed was right, Callows would burn this place to find his new toys.

_ 3:12 AM _

Sun and the others were not outside the main building and in the federal structure's garage.

"Neptune, go start the car. Scarlett, clear the space in the back. Neo, help me get Ruby into the car."

Neptune got in and started the car while Scarlet cleared the way for Ruby to lie down. But as Neo and Sun began to pull Ruby out of the concealed hiding place, they heard a gun being pulled.

"Stop what you're doing and put your hands in the air."

Sun and Neo did as instructed, and turned to see a random agent staring at the body that was now in their trunk. Sun, his hands still raised, took a step forward and said, "Ma'am, please stay back. We have orders to transport this body to one of the federal dumping grounds."

"On who's authority," The agent asked.

"Agent Callows," Sun said, "He played with this Grimm a bit too much."

The agent stared at the body for a few seconds before lowering her weapon, "Ah shit; he's always killing the prisoners. Well, what site are you taking this one to?"

'Shit,' Sun thought to himself as he decided to wing it.

"…Site 3."

"Site 3," The agent asked as she raised her weapon again, "there is no site 3."

_ 3:13 AM _

As the elevator doors opened, Agent Callows ran down the hall and into Cell #4 to see that Ruby was gone

_ 3:15 AM _

'All units, Ruby Rose has escaped. I repeat, the Grimm prisoner has escaped.'

The agent looked down to hear the radio call before looking up at Sun and Neo. But as she grabbed her radio to report, Sun said, " _ Tormenta _ !"

The gun flew out of the agent's hands and right into Sun's, who quickly aimed it at the. Sun's now Grimm eyes caused the agent to gasp. As this happened, Scarlett snuck up behind the agent.

"Listen, you seem nice, so I hate to do this."

"What," The agent asked.

"Scarlett," Sun said.

Before the agent could react, Scarlett placed his hand on the agent's head and said, " _ Insomnia _ ."

The agent quickly fell under the spell's effects and collapsed to the ground. Scarlett kneeled and placed his hand on the woman's head before saying, " _ Memoria Damnus Grimm _ ."

The woman's forehead began to glow as Scarlett extracted an orb from her mind. Scarlett then crushed his hand and watched the orb break apart before dissipating.

"She won't be remembering us," Scarlett said.

Neptune poked his head out of the car and said, "Oh great, we committed another crime. Now get in the damn car."

The others quickly hopped into the car, and Neptune quickly drove away from the building.

_ 3:30 AM _

Agent Callows stared at the collapsed, sleeping body of the agent that laid on the ground as Director Salem walked up beside him.

"She... escaped?"

"I don't know how, but she had help," Agent Callows said.

Director Salem simply sighed as she began to walk away, much to Agent Callows' dismay, "But Director, this just proves that Miss Rose knows something about Liberteria. Why else would they help her? Give me a week, and I will bring them back."

Director Salem looked back to him and said, "One week. Do not disappoint me, Tyrian."

As Director Salem walked back inside, Agent Callows walked towards the surveillance room.

_ 3:45 AM _

As the group drove towards a safehouse, Ruby's head rested on Neo's lap while Sun was using the healing spell on Ruby's wounds.

"How is she," Neptune asked.

"She's got a lot of bruising, some broken ribs, and cuts all around her body. She's dehydrated and starving. I'd say she will be healed physically in a few hours. But mentally? I don't know… Right now, Ruby needs some rest and time to get some muscle back. Besides, we also need time to lay low. Once Ruby is ready to go, we can leave for Liberteria."

"Should we... wipe her memory of what happened in there," Scarlett asked.

Sun looked at Neo as she stared at the sleeping girl with tears in her eyes.

"Hey," Sun said as he placed his hand on Neo's shoulder, "She is safe because of you."

Neo placed her hand on Sun's but did not look at him. She did not look away from Ruby. Because deep down, she was the only one in the car that truly knows the horrors that she endured in that cell.


	3. Wall Repairs (Jaune)

_ January 18th, 2041 _

_ 5:32 AM _

After being given the land by the Canadian government, the Grimm quickly took over and established their claim on the Northern forests. The forest provided the Grimm with nearly limitless resources for them to experiment with their powers, cover from any surveillance, and enough land to expand should their numbers rise. As for the village of Grimm, it was like entering another time period. The exterior showed a wall of logs that stretched twenty feet high. Atop the said wall, Grimm scouts who were keeping watch.

Inside the walls of Liberteria was a thriving village of Grimm and some humans. Multiple greenhouses were being used for collecting food, a stream passed through the town for fishing and gathering water, and there was a market for trade among the citizens. The houses were made of wood and stone, giving off a medieval vibe to the village. But with a spell here and there, it was more than enough to live comfortably. It was almost perfect. In one of the houses, Coco was pouring a cup of homemade coffee when she saw Jaune walking out.

"Hey there. Made you a cup," Coco said as she offered it to Jaune.

"Thanks," Jaune said as he took the coffee and drank.

"Did you go back to sleep last night," Coco asked.

"...What do we have today?"

"You have wall inspection and repairs. I have another greenhouse shift."

"Alright," Jaune said as he proceeded to the door.

"Jaune."

Jaune stopped and turned to face Coco as she said, "I get that you miss her… But you are just hurting yourself by reading that letter multiple times."

_ Coco Adel: Wanted for harboring Grimm for over a decade with her grandmother, aiding the controversial group known as The Light, and the murder of a United States soldier. _

Jaune stared at Coco for a few moments before proceeding out towards his station. As she watched Jaune walk off, she released a sigh, knowing that her words were falling on deaf ears.

_ 5:54 AM _

_ When Coco and I arrived in Liberteria, all I could think about was Ruby. When I was taught the healing spell here in Liberteria, I remember nearly screaming. I felt a sense of regret for failing to help Ruby when there was a spell that could have saved her. Ever since then, I have been having nightmares. Some were dreams of her coming back to haunt me while others showed her being alive and tortured because I left her behind. When I told Elder Hazel about these dreams, he said that I was likely going through the pain of losing Ruby and that my mind was simply not accepting this yet. _

Jaune proceeded to the main entrance of the village to see another Grimm was waiting for him. She had some winter gear on, but the fire-red hair was a definite give away to Jaune of who it was.

"Hey, Pyrrha," Jaune said as he walked up to Pyrrha.

_ Pyrrha Nikos. In 2036, she went on a school trip to Japan for her language class. But during her time there, she discovered her abilities when she supposedly read an old gaming catalog with a character with the Latin term for water. Shortly after learning this, Pyrrha left a note on her bed for her parents and left with her belongings. With Japan being a haven for Grimm, Pyrrha found the village of 自由 or Jiyū, which means freedom. After living with them for a few weeks, Pyrrha was transported to Liberteria. _

"Oh, hello Jaune, how are you today?"

"I'm a little bit tired," Jaune said.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Did you have bad dreams?"

"Yeah… something like that," Jaune said.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"Not really…"

"Oh, okay. Well, in any case, this job shouldn't take too long, so if you want to start early…"

"Sure."

Pyrrha nodded and waved to the scouts, "Heading out for wall inspections."

The two waited a few moments as the front gate opened, and the two proceeded to inspect the wall.

_ 6:01 AM _

Coco walked into the greenhouse to see her co-workers were already at it, but she had one disadvantage. It was a hybrid of humans and Grimm in the greenhouse. And while it was a pretty easy job, the Grimm had one advantage: they were using magic to grow, pick, replenish, and repeat continually.

"Hello, Coco," Coco heard a familiar voice coming from a workstation.

"Fiona? What are you doing up? Didn't you have a shift on the wall from nine last night to four this morning?"

"Yes, and?"

_ Fiona Thyme: wanted individual of the United States after a suspected association of aiding a foreign power with the late Robyn Hill. Fiona arrived in Liberteria on the day of the bill's vote and helped High Elder Ozpin find us. Fiona is actually one of the few humans that have been allowed to stay in Liberteria.  _

"We have been trying to tell her that she needs to get some sleep," Flynt said.

"Yeah, but she, like, just keeps saying that it's fine," Kat said.

_ Nancy Kat, or Kat as she likes to be called, was a DJ in Oregon, naming herself Nyan Cat. She was on her way home when she was attacked by a mugger when she used the air spell and sent him headfirst into a wall, snapping his neck and killing him instantly. A bystander witnessed the event and reported her to the police. She was lucky to escape and traveled to the Light's hideout in Montana. _

_ Flynt Coal was one of the prisoners of the Montana Institution that escaped when The Light attacked it. It was in the hideout when he met Kat, and they have been together ever since. _

"Well, just take it easy, okay, Fiona," Coco asked as she began picking a bush of blueberries.

"So, Coco, how are you and Jaune doing," Kat asked as she finished picking some tomatoes. Removing her gloves, Kat aimed her hand at the picked plant and said, " _ Tiempo de avance _ ."

Coco watched as the perennial shrub slowly began to regrow a new batch of tomatoes almost instantly.

"He still reads that letter, but I think that he is slowly acknowledging that he needs to move on."

"Well, you know that we're always willing to lend a hand if you need it," Fiona said.

The others nodded as well as they continued on with their job.

_ 6:15 AM _

Jaune hopped up a small slope and offered a hand to Pyrrha, who gladly took it.

"You think there is gonna be a lot of damage?"

"Maybe, that storm two days ago was pretty bad," Jaune said.

As they turned around the corner, Jaune and Pyrrha saw that the wall had some logs bent from the wind.

"Would you like to start us off," Pyrrha asked.

"No, you can do it," Jaune said, "I'll keep an eye out."

"Thanks," Pyrrha said as she walked up to the wall and began to use the spell on the wall, " _ Daño inverso _ ."

As Pyrrha concentrated, the logs slowly began to move back into place. The logs' damage began to vanish and shift back into position along the wall. As Jaune faced the wilderness, Pyrrha continued the conversation.

"You know, this reminds me of a time when I was part of a volunteer group during middle school," Pyrrha said, trying to start the conversation.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, we were assigned to help with building desks for a charter school that didn't have enough to afford more desks. The students also helped out and got to paint their desks whatever they wanted."

"Sounds fun."

"It was. One kid had this tiger. She said that it made her feel strong since she liked that old Kung Fu Panda movie. It made me excited about painting my driving spot at school. My parents were planning on doing it when I got home from Japan. Unfortunately, well, we know how that trip went."

Jaune gave a small chuckle.

"If you could, what would you have drawn on your parking spot?"

Jaune shrugged, "I don't know, I guess… a cool dragon?"

Pyrrha chuckled, "A dragon?"

"Yeah, you know, with fire shooting out of its mouth."

Pyrrha chuckled as she lowered her hands, "That sounds pretty cool."

Jaune detected a bit of sarcasm in her voice, so he asked, "Alright, what would you have done?"

"Agh," Pyrrha sighed as she lowered her arms, "We're done on this section."

Jaune turned and saw that the wall seemed untouched.

"Looks good right," Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, it does. Come on; I'll take the next one. But not before I hear your drawing idea."

_ 8:12 AM _

Coco sighed as she placed one last box of blueberries in the carrier. Now came her next part of the job: Taking it to the kitchens.

"Hey, Coco, mind if I tag along? I got my raspberries done," Fiona said.

"Alright," Coco said.

Coco and Fiona proceeded into the kitchen and began to store their products in the fridges. As she was stacking the berry boxes, she heard another familiar voice.

"Miss Adel, Miss Thyme, how are the two of you," Elder Hazel asked.

_ Elder Hazel. The Elder of the Northeast and Head of the Agriculture and Livestock for Liberteria. Hazel helped Coco and myself cross into Canada on the day of the bill... I just wish that the list was longer than that. _

"Getting through the day," Coco said.

Elder Hazel chuckled, "I know that feeling. I managed to catch some amazing rainbow trout in the lake, so it looks like Emerald will be able to make some of those delicious fillets again."

"Sounds good," Coco said.

Hearing the tone in her voice, Hazel asked, "Is something wrong, Miss Adel?"

Coco turned to Fiona, who took the mental hint and walked away from the two as Coco said, "It's Jaune… he was up for hours reading the letter Ruby left him again. I am getting worried."

Hazel placed his hand on Coco's shoulder, "People have different ways of dealing with their loss. Some are stronger than others, but that does not make them weak. What he needs is for others to show that they are there for him."

Coco nodded, "Okay, Elder."

"Well, I have to get going. Ozpin has asked for the council to join for a meeting. I am sure it is to discuss what our plans shall be for this year. Take care."

_ 8:48 AM _

Jaune was panting as he finally finished mending the last segment of the wall. Hours of walking around the wall, and fixing every bit of damage to such a massive wall takes a lot of energy. But in the end, it was done.

"And done…" Jaune said as he sat down in the snow, opposite of Pyrrha. Pyrrha pulled a canteen out from her side and proceeded to have some before offering it to Jaune, who gladly had some.

"Hey, Jaune, can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"Is it true that you stole a train getting here?"

"Why do people always ask me that," Jaune sighed, "Yes, I stole a train."

"How?"

"Well, I didn't do it alone. I had the help of another Grimm."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I didn't know her that much. Hell, we pretty much genuinely met the day before."

"What happened to her," Pyrrha asked.

Before Jaune could say, a Grimm poked their head out from the top of the wall and said, "Hey, if you two are done with the wall, then head to the center. The High Elder has an announcement."

"Thanks, Nora," Jaune said as he looked to Pyrrha, "Let's go see what is going on."

_ 8:54 AM _

Jaune and Pyrrha walked into the center of Liberteria and recognized Coco in the crowd.

"Hey, do you know what's going on," Jaune asked.

"Not really. Hazel said something about the council meeting. Maybe this has to do with that," Coco said.

The crowd slowly grew silent as they saw High Elder Ozpin walk to the center with the other leaders of Liberteria, named the Elders: Hazel, Oobleck, Gwen, and David.

"Thank you for coming," Ozpin said as he seemed unsure of what to say, "We have just received word that President Ironwood has declared the G.G.B a success. All Grimm within the Institutions, as well as most who remain in the States, have been killed."

Murmurs echoed through the crowd as Coco looked to one another before Ozpin continued.

"Friends," Ozpin removed his glasses, "we have lost a lot in the last couple of years: friends, family, good samaritans and fellow Grimm who died for us. Let us signify this day as a day of remembrance for those that we lost. Tonight, we shall have a fire. We ask those who come to bring a piece of wood with the name of someone close that you lost on this journey. We shall reconvene here at nine o'clock."

"Fucking humans…" The trio heard amongst the crowds. Coco turned to see a rather taller Grimm staring at her before walking away.

"Something tells me he was talking about me," Coco said.

"Well, he knows not to fuck with you," Jaune said as he walked away.

_ 9:01 PM _

As Grimm returned to the center of the village, Ozpin stood there beside a fire pit with his fellow Elders behind him.

"Greetings, everyone. I am glad to see that most of you, if not all of you, have returned. Please set your piece down here," Ozpin pointed to the pit as it already had a few pieces in it.

Getting in line, both Jaune and Coco held their own pieces with almost similar names with ones that they lost.

'Ruby. Velvet. Willow. Qrow. Pietro'

'Velvet. Grandma. Ruby. Pietro.'

When it was Jaune's turn to walk up, he did so slowly as he stared at the log, his mind flooding with the many moments during his journey with Ruby, despite how short it was.

As he gently placed the log down on the pile, Jaune whispered, "Goodbye Vel… Willow… R-Ruby…"

As he began to walk away, he stopped when he saw Coco was not moving, her eyes welling with tears.

"Coco…" Jaune said as he walked up to her.

As she placed one foot in front of the next, she whispered to Jaune, "She... She should be here…"

"I know… I know…" Jaune said as he helped his friend to the pile as Coco continued talking about Velvet

Her voice getting raspy and tears begin to caress her cheeks, Coco said, "She always wanted to go camping… Willow said that it was too dangerous. Why... Why didn't I take her camping, Jaune…"

"You did all that you could, Coco," Jaune said as he gently removed the log from her hands and placed it on the pile.

Once their turn was over, Jaune guided Coco back into the crowd.

After the line had finished, Ozpin took a step forward, "May the names that you wrote know that their sacrifice was not in vain. May they know that though we symbolize freedom, that they are the ones who are truly free. Free of a world in which inflicts pain, free from a world that wishes harm upon them. May they know that while they are gone, they shall never be forgotten. May we one day reunite with them in the world of peace so that we may truly… _ vivamus libere _ …"

" _ Vivamus libere _ …" The whole community chanted.

Coco and Jaune held hands as Ozpin turned to the bundle of sticks and placed his hand on the top, " _ Ignis _ …"

The people watched as the pile was set aflame and burned high into the night sky. There were no cheers nor dancing or music. All that was there was crying, mourning, and comforting.


	4. Catching Up (Ruby)

_ January 18th, 2041 _

_ 8:02 AM _

_ Ruby opened her eyes and found herself hanging from the ceiling. _

_ "Mmph," Ruby called out, only to feel the duct tape around her mouth. _

_ Hearing the door open, Ruby looked away as Agent Callows walked in with a bag in his hand. _

_ "Good morning, Miss Rose. " _

_ "..." _

_ "'Oh, how was my day,' you ask? Well, I must say that last night was quite eventful. We caught these two trying to sneak in. Do you recognize them," Agent Callows asked as he pulled something from the bag. _

_ Showing it to Ruby, she saw that they were the disembodied heads of Neo and Sun. The sight caused Ruby to scream so loud... _ She woke up.

Ruby quickly opened her eyes and nearly screamed. However, she quickly discovered that she was not chained or bound in any way. She was in... a bed? Placing her fingers on her mouth, she felt that there was no duct tape. Placing her hands all around her body, she felt no cuts, bruises, or...

"Where am I…" Ruby asked as she looked around.

But the moment of confusion was cut short as she heard voices coming towards her room. Ruby's instincts quickly made her look around the room, and she, fortunately, saw a lamp on the bedside table next to her. However, as she tried to move her entire body, she felt an extreme strain. Before she could try again, she saw the doorknob jiggle.

Closing her eyes, she listened as she heard two figures enter the room.

"See? She is still asleep."

"I swear, I thought I heard something."

"Whatever. Come on, let's go. We need to get the truck ready."

As she heard the two leave the room and lock it, Ruby slowly leaned up, feeling an immense amount of pain as she got up.

'I have to get out of here,' Ruby thought to herself.

Looking towards the windows, she saw that they were shut and locked. Looking towards the door, she knew that it was locked already, looking towards the walls, she saw...

'How is my bag here,' Ruby asked herself as she stared at the bag as it was resting beside the door.

'No way out without making some noise. Think, Ruby... wait a minute,' Ruby said as she pieced together a plan.

Ruby extended her arm towards the bedside table and pushed the lamp off, shattering it.

"What was that," She heard someone outside.

"Jesus, go check. I'll go start preparing the car."

Laying back down, Ruby listened as the door opened, and someone began to approach her.

"How the hell did this shatter," She heard the person ask.

At that moment, Ruby opened her eyes and quickly placed her hand on top of the figure's head and said, " _ Insomnia _ ."

The figure let out a groan before falling unconscious. Taking the opportunity, Ruby threw the covers off of her and slowly got out of bed as she was trying to move her legs for the first time in a while.

'Okay… one at a time…' Ruby said to herself as she continued. Halfway through, she felt her left leg give out, and she fell to one knee. Panting and gritting her teeth, Ruby only thought of escaping. That was all that mattered.

Concentrating, Ruby managed to pick herself back up and made it to the door. Leaning down to grab her bag, Ruby groaned as she picked it up. After such a long time away from it, Ruby thought, 'Forgot how heavy you are…'

Opening the door, Ruby looked out into the hallway, and saw that she was in the clear. Proceeding down the hall, she heard two voices from behind a door she was passing.

"Any update on her?"

"No, still asleep."

"I could have sworn that she should have woken up by now. What about Callows?"

Upon hearing that name, Ruby gasped. Luckily, the voices were unable to hear it.

"Nothing yet."

As Ruby continued, she made it to a staircase that led to the first floor.

'If I am here, then that must mean there is a car…' Ruby thought to herself as she began to move down the stairs by using the stairs' very distant sides.

'Oh, fuck... Okay, Ruby. Just take it easy…'

The process downstairs was relatively harmless. She managed to keep herself steady and quiet. However, once she made it to the bottom staircase, her legs began to act up, and she leaned her body against the stairs for support.

'Come on, Ruby… you can do this…'

Suddenly, Ruby heard rapid knocking on a door upstairs.

"She's awake. She knocked me out."

"What do you mean she knocked you out?"

'Shit…'

Ruby began to pick up the pace as she saw a door leading somewhere.

'Please be the garage…'

As Ruby opened the door, she saw that it was the garage. And there was a car parked inside.

"Oh, thank god…" Ruby said.

But before she could even take a step forward, a pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her back.

"NO," Ruby yelled.

"Ruby! It's me!"

Ruby didn't listen. She was acting purely on instinct as she bit down hard into the man's hand, causing him to scream and let her go, causing her to fall to the ground. Quickly getting up, she turned and yelled, " _ AER _ !"

The sudden burst of air pushed the two figures back a few feet, but one of them managed to stay on his feet. Before Ruby could launch another spell, the man said, "Ruby, stand down. It's me. Sun."

As Ruby stared at the man, she vaguely remembered his face.

"Sun?"

"From Burlington. You came to us with Jaune Arc, and Coco and Velvet Adel."

"Jaune? Where is he?"

"Well, if he made it, he's in Liberteria," Sun said.

Hearing three sets of feet coming down the stairs, Ruby quickly looked to the stairs to see three people appear. One of them had very familiar pink and brown hair.

Lowering her hand, Ruby began to process the current situation fully. This prompted her to ask, "W-What's happened?"

_ 8:30 AM _

Agent Callows stared at the monitors that were replaying the moment of the outbreak. Every single frame had a clue in Callows' mind. He just needed to piece the right frame.

'They needed prior knowledge of this facility. The only Grimm that I know who has left this place is... oh. Has another toy returned itself to me,' Tyrian chuckled as he continued to watch the monitors.

"Focus on the lobby twelve minutes before the alert," Agent Callows said.

The monitors showed the camera feed of Tyrian walking out and speaking to Neo and the others.

"Who are you three," Tyrian asked.

_ 9:12 AM _

Ruby sat at the kitchen table, still piecing together what has happened since the day in the forest. Neo sat beside her as Sun was cooking Ruby some food. The other two, now known as Scarlett and Neptune, were out in the garage, preparing the car.

"What... What day is it…?"

"January 18th," Sun said.

"So it's been over a month since..."

"That day, when you were in the forest..."

Ruby released a gasp as her mind was trying to process this news. Neo placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder to comfort the girl as Sun asked, "Is there anything that you remember from that day?"

"I remember crashing, and... Velvet. She..."

Sun shook his head, "I'm sorry..."

"Oh god, Vel…"

Sun saw the expression on Ruby's face and decided that Ruby needed some cheering up. As Sun walked away from the kitchen, he said, "When we came across the crash site, we watched as they took Velvet and Pietro's bodies... but they didn't grab everything."

Ruby looked to see Sun walk up with Velvet's backpack and handed it to her, "Felt like you deserve to carry it more than any of us."

Ruby took the bag and held it in her arms, "I'll take it back to Coco."

Sun nodded as he walked back over to the cooking station.

"After the crash, Hazel told us to run. But we were split up. I was following Pietro before he was shot… by my father."

Ruby saw Sun's hands clench for a moment before saying, "Was it quick?"

"Yes."

Sun slowly nodded his head and asked, "What happened next?"

"After Pietro's death, I erased my father's memory. Shortly after, a Hunter drone appeared, and Jaune took it down, but it fired one last shot before it was destroyed."

"Is that…" Sun pointed at his stomach.

"Yes… Jaune didn't know any healing spells, and Coco couldn't do anything… so I chose to stay instead of risking the lives of the others."

"..."

"I remember seeing... my mom. Then, everything went dark. The next thing, I...I realized was... was..."

As Ruby trailed off, she began to feel her heart beat faster, her lungs beginning to tighten, and her hands curled into fists so tight that she broke the upper layer of her skin.

Recognizing that Ruby was hyperventilating, Neo grabbed Ruby's hands as Sun ran up and placed his hand on Ruby's head and said, " _ Tranquillitas _ ."

Sun's hand began to glow yellow as Ruby saw memories play right in front of her. A few memories included her and Jaune playing in the snow, meeting Coco and Velvet, seeing her mother.

"What is this," Ruby asked.

"A calming spell. It shows you the memories that make you happy."

The memories shifted to watching a movie with her dad, playing a game with Penny, and other memories that placed a small smile on Ruby's face.

Seeing that Ruby was calm, Sun removed his hand, disconnecting the spell.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

Ruby looked around and commented on the location, "This is a much better place than the sewers."

"My brother takes that as a compliment," Sun chuckled, "Dumbass left the key in the same spot."

"So, where are we exactly?"

"Maine. After what happened in Vermont, I knew that it was no longer safe to stay there. We passed the crash site on the way to Maine, which was where we found the bag. As we got closer to Maine, we picked up a frequency that the Light use members, and that is how we met with Neptune and Scarlett again."

"Are we safe here?"

"For now. But now that you are awake, we can head to Liberteria."

"We're going back to the forest?"

"No, that escape zone likely has soldiers crawling all over it. We're going to cross the Rainbow Bridge near Niagra Falls. I will be sending a message before we go if you want to let Jaune and Coco know that you are alive."

"YES," Ruby said quickly.

Sun chuckled as he said, "Alright. let me just finish cooking here."

As she waited, Ruby had to ask, "How did you find me?"

"That was all Neo," Sun said as he placed some raw bacon in the pan.

"What do you mean," Ruby asked as she looked to Neo.

"Neo was... another one of Callow's prisoners."

Ruby said nothing.

"Neo wasn't a member at the time, but Callows didn't care… he was just trying to kiss his boss' ass. He tortured Neo for weeks in the hopes of finding Liberteria. Director Salem forced Callows to turn her over to a nearby Institution, but not before he gave her a parting gift."

Neo opened her mouth, revealing to Ruby that her tongue had been cut out.

"Oh my god..."

"She almost went after you. Alone. But that isn't how this group works," Sun said as he walked up with a plate of eggs and bacon and set it in front of Ruby.

It was actual food.

"Go on. I am quite the chef, you know."

Ruby picked up her fork, grabbed a piece of egg, and ate it. Feeling her taste buds revitalize after having actual solid food made tears come to her eyes. Without thinking, Ruby just began to eat everything that was on the plate.

_ 9:23 AM _

'Agent Callows, come in,' Callows' radio buzzed.

"What is it?"

'We just picked up what may have been a possible lead on that Rose Grimm. Someone in Lewiston just reported to the local PD that they heard a scream coming from a house that sounded like a Grimm spell.'

"Lewiston, eh? That isn't exactly close to here."

'Right, but get this. The owner of the house is related to Sun Wukong, Elder Hazel's right hand.'

Agent Callows' eyes widened watched the monitors.

"Show me the surveillance of the lobby several minutes before the breakout."

The monitors replayed the moment, and Callows saw the three soldiers follow the janitor inside of the elevator, showing him Sun's face.

"Inform the Lewiston authorities that I am on my way there. I need two units of G.D.T.F members at the ready for when I arrive."

_ 2:35 PM _

Ruby stared at herself in the mirror, her torso bare for the world to see as she traced the scar around her stomach… a permanent reminder of what happened in the forest.

'They left you because you were weak.'

Ruby's eyes widened as she heard Agent Callows' cackle circle her.

_ 'You killed my grandmother,' She heard Coco's voice. _

Ruby covered her ears and mumbled, "Stop," as more voices filled her head.

_ 'Monster,' Raven said. _

_ 'Murderer,' Penny said. _

_ 'Pathetic,' Willow said. _

_ 'A freak,' Ceil said. _

_ 'Why did you even bother coming back,' Jaune said. _

As the voices got louder, Ruby rolled into a ball and cried as she heard them grow louder and louder before suddenly... they vanished, and she heard echoed footsteps.

_ "I must say, Miss Rose. You are quite hopeful of returning to Liberteria." _

Ruby could almost feel the hallucination grazing his fingers over her shoulder as his cackle still echoed around her.

_ "Your new friends seem nice. I look forward to having more toys to play with." _

Hearing a knock on the door, Ruby felt Callows' hallucination vanish.

"Ruby, is everything okay?"

"Y-Yes, just give me a moment," Ruby said as she got up from the ground. After quickly put on a bra and shirt, Ruby opened the door to see Sun and Neo.

"We just got the car gassed up, packed, and is all set. Are you ready?"

"I think so…" Ruby said.

"Good, let's send the message and then-"

Neptune and Scarlett ran up the stairs, yelling, "Sun!"

"Guys! We have a problem."

"What is it, Neptune?"

But before Neptune could respond, the group heard a familiar voice from a megaphone.

"Miss Rose."

Ruby gasped as she heard Agent Callows' voice.

"You didn't say goodbye to me. I will admit that I am a little hurt. But if you come back with me, I will only punish you a little. As for the rest of you, I would also like to, shall we say, talk to you."

Sun ran up to the window and saw that the street was blocked by a barricade, three cars, and eight local G.D.T.F officers.

Ruby fell to her knees and began to hyperventilate again and started mumbling, "This is all my fault. This is all my fault."

An idea came to Sun as he turned to give orders, "Neo, head down to the car with Ruby and look after her. Scarlett, destroy anything that can help them. Neptune, I am going to need every speaker in this house on full blast and ready for my signal."

Neo nodded and helped Ruby up to escort her to the car. Scarlett ran off to go destroy any evidence that they, while Neptune asked, "How do you plan to deal with the G.D.T.F and Callows?"

Sun gave a causal smirk and said, "By improvising."


	5. Improvising (Ruby)

_ January 18th, 2041 _

_ 2:38 PM _

Ruby felt her sanity slowly ungluing as her thoughts overwhelmed her. Like a broken record, she thought to herself, 'It's all my fault. It's all my fault...'

Meanwhile, Neo practically dragged Ruby as they ran into the garage. Jogging up to the car, Neo opened the back door and motioned for Ruby to get in.

"...I... I can help."

Despite admiring Ruby's bravery, Neo knew that Ruby would have been more of a liability now. So, Neo kindly placed her hand on Ruby's arm and shook her head before gently nudging Ruby into the car and shut the door.

_ 9:38 AM _

At the entrance to the suburban cul-de-sac were the authorities. They were all lined up as a blockade against any threat as Agent Callows stood in front of the officers with a megaphone in his hand.

"Agent Callows, what should we do?"

"I believe that we have given them enough time… move in. Oh, and try not to kill all of them. I would like to interrogate them."

"You heard the agent. Let's show him how we do things, boys."

Agent Callows watched as the officers approached the house with their weapons drawn. As they converged on the entryways, Agent Callows smirked as one officer kicked in the door.

"G.D.T.F," He heard the officers yell as they entered the house.

Callows opened one of the cruiser doors and listened to the officers through the radio.

'Clear signs of recent activity, but the kitchen is clear,' He heard through their comms.

_ 9:41 AM _

Neo and Ruby stood as quietly as possible as three officers swarmed into the garage. Ruby could feel the strain that the spell was having on her due to a lack of energy. In the split second that they had, Ruby opened the door and used the invisibility spell on both herself and Neo. The same spell she used when she was at Willow's.

"I have eyes on a vehicle in the garage. No occupancy inside the vehicle," One of the officers said as he approached the vehicle and looked inside the car, "It appears to be filled with supplies."

As the officer backed up, Ruby exhaled a bit too loudly, which the officer heard.

"What was that," The officer asked as he looked directly at Ruby's position.

"What," A second officer asked.

"Thought I heard something over here," The officer said as he began to approach Ruby's position.

But just as the officer was about to walk right into the two, he was stopped as they all heard a fellow officer yell, "I got someone up here!"

"On our way," The officer said before all of them ran towards the source of the voice.

As the officers ran out of the garage, Ruby finally let broke the spell and fell to the ground. Covering her mouth to muffle her coughs, Ruby looked up to see Neo helping her up.

"We need to help the others…" Ruby said.

Neo pointed at the car again, signaling to Ruby what she needed to do. Knowing that Neo wasn't going to let her help, Ruby just sighed in defeat as she sat in the car.

_ 9:46 AM _

"Right on time…" Sun said as he was pretending to be on a laptop.

Sun was currently sitting "alone" in one of the rooms of the house when the officers kicked open the door, causing Sun to jump as the officers began to flood through the door.

'Eight locals… Callows must be impatient.'

"G.D.T.F! Show us your hands!"

"Whoa guys… care to explain what's going on," Sun chuckled.

"Keep your hands up, Grimm."

"Grimm?! What the hell are you talking about?."

"We received a call about Grimm in this house. We also have orders to bring in everyone that lives here."

"Well, I hate to tell you, buddy, but I'm the only one in the house."

"Search the other areas on this floor," The officer said.

But before any of the officers moved, Sun took a step forward, "If I may…"

The officers aimed their weapons again at Sun, who took a step back, "There are technically a few people in the house."

"Where?"

"Right here," Sun said.

The moment Sun said this, both Neptune and Scarlett appeared out of thin air, they deactivated their invisibility spells, on both sides of the doorway. Both Neptune and Scarlett took the small window of opportunity that they had to use the sleep spell on the four officers that they were closest to.

Hearing the spells, the officer turned to see the new threats and said, "Contact!"

Sun took the opportunity to grab the laptop and smashed it against the officer's head, knocking them to the ground. The officer, still conscious, swiftly kicked Sun in the stomach, knocking him back into the desk. The officer tried to grab the gun next to them, but Neptune quickly stepped on it and kicked the officer in the head.

As Sun held his stomach, Neptune checking the officer's pulse, and Scarlett wiping sweat from his forehead, Neo ran into view and sighed.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Sun said with a pained smile, "Let's go."

"Are you okay, Nep," Scarlett asked,

"Yes, I'm fine," Neptune said as he grabbed an officer's pistol, "Better now that we have one of these."

As Neo began to follow the other back to the car, she saw something on the ground that piqued her interest.

_ 9:55 AM _

After moments of radio silence, Callows sighed as he got out of the car.

"You want something done… do it yourself," Agent Callows said as he walked towards the house.

_ 9:56 AM _

As Sun and the others started getting into the car, he turned to see Neo wasn't behind them.

"Where the hell is Neo," Sun asked.

"Uh Sun," Neptune asked as he pointed out of the garage window.

Walking up and looking out towards the street… Sun saw what Neptune was pointing at.

Agent Callows was slowly approaching the house but stopped halfway when both he and Sun saw a figure walking towards him.

It was Neo.

_ 9:57 AM _

As Neo stared at the person who tortured her for months, flashbacks flowed into her mind.

The things he did. The things that he said. The things that he took.

"Well now… what do we have here? Miss Politan. I figured that you would still be lying dead in a ditch somewhere."

Neo simply glared at Agent Callows. She reached to her side and pulled out an extendable baton that was on one of the officers.

"What… cat got your tongue? Oh, sorry… too soon," Agent Callows chuckled.

Neo gritted her teeth as she charged at Agent Callows.

_ 10:01 AM _

"We have to go now," Scarlett said.

While Sun opened the garage door and Scarlett started the car, Neptune got out of the car and faced the blockade.

" _ Ferro et flexilis _ ."

Ruby watched as the police cruisers were slowly being pushed apart, creating a small window for them to escape. But as she looked out, she saw Neo and Agent Callows fighting. Just seeing him caused Ruby's heart to quicken as her breaths began to shorten.

Neo ran up to Agent Callows, who stayed perfectly still until she was a few feet away. As she came within range, Callows delivered a kick towards her. However, Neo jumped to the side, dodging his attack, and whacked Callows in the hip with her baton, staggering him.

Taking this opportunity, Neo jumped behind him and kicked the bend in his knee, knocking him down to his knees, before jumping back in front.

But before she could hit him again, Callows grabbed hold of Neo's arm and applied enough pressure that her hand let go of the baton.

"Oh, my dear, even after all this time, you have not learned," Agent Callows said as he stood up, towering Neo. As she tried to push herself away from him, Callows delivered a headbutt that swift contact with Neo's face, sending her the ground.

"You act like a fighter, but you are just a coward," Callows said.

This setback did not stop Neo as she quickly composed herself and rolled back onto her feet. But instead of thinking logically, Neo screamed and ran Callows. 

As it appeared that Callows was performing the same move as before, he smirked as Neo fell for his rouse. As she jumped to the side, Callows threw a right-handed hook to Neo's cheek, sending her back to the ground.

"You know… you were always the fighter, Miss Politan. Even when I found you, you were a fighter. "

Neo jumped up and growled as she ran at him. She swung, but he dodged, and dodged, and dodged again.

As Neptune tried to push the cars with his magic, he yelled, "Guys, I need some help!"

Sun and Scarlett joined Neptune as Ruby watched Neo being beaten to the ground over and over again as Callows stood over her... with that fucking smile on his face.

'What are you waiting for...'

'Do it...'

'Kill him...'

'Make him suffer...'

The voiced returned as Ruby stared at Agent Callows, extending the baton.

"You are ferocious; I will give you that, Miss Politan," Agent Callows said as he picked up her baton and walked over to her, "But ferocity does not win every fight. You should know this by now."

Agent Callows lifted his arm to hit Neo with the baton.

"Oh well... goodbye Miss Politan."

'Do it! NOW!'

Without thinking, Ruby aimed her arm and yelled, " _ SANGUIS _ !"

The others looked to Ruby before to Agent Callows as the veins on his neck began pulsating. His eyes turned bloodshot, spit collecting in his mouth as he gritted his teeth, and stared at his opponent.

Sun released the spell and looked to Ruby, "Ruby, you have to stop this."

"He needs to pay…"

"He's beaten Ruby," Sun said.

"He needs to die."

"Killing him will only make things worse for us, Ruby," Sun said.

As she stared at Agent Callows, the voices returned.

'Kill him.'

'Kill.'

'Make him suffer.'

'Killing him will only make things worse for us.'

Looking at Sun, Ruby shut her eyes and broke the spell.

Neo watched as Agent Callows fell to the ground, spitting out blood and gasping for air as he slowly looked at Neo.

Neo slowly stood up, reached down, and grabbed the baton before staring at Agent Callows.

He gave a small chuckle before saying, "Go ahead."

Gripping the baton in her hand, Neo shook her head before running back to the car.

As Neo hopped in, Sun said to Scarlett, "Floor it."

Agent Callows slowly began to get up after regaining his breath and stared at the car as it drove towards him. Quickly pulling out his pistol, he fired multiple shots at the vehicle, with only one managing to hit the exterior before he had to jump out of the way. As he watched the car drive through the barrier, he simply sat on the ground.

Spitting out a loogie of blood, Agent Callows started chuckling.

"Miss Politan... thing shave gotten more interesting."

_ 10:30 AM _

As Scarlett continued driving, Neptune was reading a map while Sun was healing Neo's wounds. Neo turned to look at Ruby, who was staring at her hands.

Neo reached towards Ruby and gently touched her hand, causing the redhead to gaps and look at Neo with tears in her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry…" Ruby said, "I-I don't know what... what..."

"You saved Neo's life, Ruby. You have nothing to apologize for," Sun said as he continued healing Neo's wounds.

Ruby gave a small nod as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She replayed that moment in her mind over and over. The second she cast that spell, she did not feel regret or fear... she felt powerful and happy. Just the thought of it made her ask, 'What is happening to me?'

As Sun saw Ruby staring out of the window, he looked to Scarlett, "How are you guys?"

"A little tired, but I'll live," Neptune said.

"Where are we off to," Scarlett asked.

"Our New Hampshire and Vermont safe houses are compromised," Neptune said.

"And we can't go all the way to the Rainbow Bridge in this. Callows probably has it ID'd at this point."

"Ruby," Sun asked, catching her attention, "Any thoughts on where we should go?"

"Well... there is one place."


	6. The party (Jaune with a bit of Ruby at the end)

_ January 18th, 2041 _

_ 6:35 PM _

Coco walked into her and Jaune's home after finishing her last job. As she walked in, she saw Jaune cooking some chicken in a pan.

"Hey," Coco said as she unbuttoned her winter jacket.

"Hey. Want some," Jaune asked as he showed his pan to her.

"I'm not staying long. I'm heading to the tavern with Fiona."

"Oh really," Jaune asked.

"Yeah. After yesterday, I just need something to take my mind off of everything."

There was a brief moment when Coco said, "You should come with."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I don't know, Coco."

"Come on. It'll be fun," Coco said.

Jaune looked to Coco and sighed, "Let me finish cooking this, and I'll grab my coat."

"Yes," Coco said happily.

_ 6:48 PM _

Jaune and Coco walked into the tavern to see it was full of people. There was laughter, lights, music, and dancing.

"Coco, what is going on here?"

"Shhh," Coco shushed Jaune as she saw Fiona run up to them.

"Coco, you came," Fiona said as she ran up to the two.

"Yeah, I decided to drag my roommate along with us," Coco said.

"Oh, hey, Jaune. It's a surprise to see you here."

"Well, it's a surprise to be here. What is happening?"

"Fiona set up a dance to lift morale after yesterday," Coco said.

"When I was Senator Hill's assistant, I partook in planning multiple events."

"It looks great, Fiona," Coco smiled as she saw all of the decorations up.

Fiona gave a small chuckle as she grabbed Coco's hand, "Well then come on."

As Coco looked at Jaune, she was pulled away by Fiona into the crowd.

Now alone, Jaune mumbled, "Fuck."

But before he could decide what to do, Jaune heard someone call his name.

"Jaune, is that you?"

Turning towards the source of the voice, Jaune was somewhat surprised to see Pyrrha walking towards him.

"Hey, Pyrrha," Jaune said.

"I was not expecting to see you here."

"Am I that easy," Jaune chuckled.

"Oh no, no, no," Pyrrha said quickly, "I meant that it was so last minute that I was not expecting a lot of people to come. But I must say, I am glad that I came. Fiona really outdid herself."

"Yeah," Jaune said as he saw Pyrrha's outfit. It was not like a Hollywood ballgown outfit, but it was a nice amber and scarlet red design.

"I uh... I like your outfit," Jaune said.

"Oh, thank you. I made it myself."

"Oh, wow! I never could get into making outfits. One time, I helped my mom stitch up a tear in my sister's toy, and the sewing machine went right into my clothes."

Pyrrha started chuckling as Jaune continued, a smile slowly growing on his face, "We had to tear out the whole thing, which of course made a new tear. My mom just asks, 'How did you manage to do that?'"

As Pyrrha continued laughing, Jaune looked towards the dancing area and decided to ask, "Hey um... would you like to maybe dance to a song?"

Pyrrha, still chuckling, nodded, "Sure."

_ 6:58 PM _

Coco and Fiona were standing on the opposite end of the dance area with drinks in their hands, watching Jaune and Pyrrha.

"And we have success," Coco said as they saw Jaune and Pyrrha walk into the dance area.

"How much is he going to hate you after this," Fiona asked.

"He'll get over it."

"Like how he got over Ruby," Fiona asked.

Coco sighed as she sipped her drink, "Ruby was different. Sure, we knew her for like a week. But she was different."

"Sounds like you really liked her," Fiona nudged Coco.

"Shut up," Coco said.

"Make me," Fiona said as she grabbed Coco's hand and pulled her into the dance area, with Coco laughing.

_ 7:02 PM _

Elder Ozpin sat at the council table and faced his fellow Elders, "Thank you all for coming today. I know that recent news has been, shall we say, troubling and heartbreaking, which is why I decided to have this meeting. I wish to know what the status is on our last evacuations from the US."

"I began evacuations starting three weeks before the G.G.B, so all of our factions on the West side of the States have fully evacuated. Any Grimm that are left in that territory will have to find their way on their own…" Elder David said.

"Sadly, the Southwest was not as careful. From what I heard, they took heavy casualties… but we managed to save about fifty-seven or so. It isn't a lot, but it is more than nothing," Elder Gwen said.

"It has been a few weeks since I have heard from any of the hideouts in the Southeast. I am afraid that we will have to fear the worst," Oobleck said.

Elder Ozpin nodded, "The Midwest did not fare the same either, I am afraid. We managed to evacuate most of the upper regions. However, it appears that the authorities were a step ahead of us, and the last few escorts were ambushed… what about you, Elder Hazel?"

"Well, the evacuations were almost a success… but the last few escorts suffered minor losses."

Ozpin noticed the look of concern in Hazel's eyes and decided to address it, "You seem troubled."

Hazel handed the paper to the Elder next to him. Being Elder Oobleck, he read the paper out loud.

"The sun shall rise on a quiet day. The scarlet rose blossoms through the winter forest. The sky was as blue as Neptune's oceans as a rainbow reflect off of the legendary falls," Elder Oobleck said.

"What is this, Hazel, your poetry," Elder Gwen asked.

"I received this message just an hour ago. It was sent in by my last informant in the states, Sun WuKong."

"What does the message mean?"

"I am not sure."

_ 7:04 PM _

As the dance continued, two couples were having an extra amount of fun. Jaune and Pyrrha decided to take a break and have a drink while Coco and Fiona kept dancing.

"That was a lot of fun," Pyrrha said.

"I haven't had this much fun since..."

A memory of Jaune and Ruby having the snowball fight played in Jaune's mind, plastering a depressed look on his face once again as he had a big swig of his drink.

"Since what?"

"Just... someone I knew."

"Is this the same person who helped you with the train?"

"Yeah..."

"You never said what happened to her."

"She um... she got shot just a few meters from the wall, and I... I left her."

"Oh my god," Pyrrha said.

"I hated myself for days after that. If I wasn't having nightmares about what may have happened to her, I have flashbacks of when we were on our journey north."

"I had nightmares, too, when I left my school group. Before I found Jiyū in Japan, I called my family to tell them what I was and said to me that if I ever came back, they would kill me. I had nightmares of coming home and seeing my father with a gun. I would try to run, but my legs were frozen," Pyrrha said.

"I haven't even tried to reach out to my family. I just left a note on my bed."

"Maybe one day, we can both write to our folks," Pyrrha said.

"Maybe," Jaune smiled.

As the two sat there, Coco and Fiona were watching from the dance area.

"Those two seem to like each other," Fiona said.

"Yeah, I hope they do," Coco said.

As the two stood there, the music shifted to a slow song. Coco and Fiona looked to one another, and Fiona gave an embarrassed smirk as she offered Coco her hand.

"W-Well," Fiona asked.

Coco rolled her eyes as she took the hand, and the two began to dance slowly.

"I feel like everyone is staring at us," Fiona said as she looked around.

"Who gives a shit," Coco said, "Let them watch."

As the two turned in a circle, Coco made eye contact with Jaune, who simply smiled and raised his drink. Coco squinted her eyes and gave Jaune a middle finger.

By the end of the night, everyone went home with smiles on their faces.

_ January 19th, 2041 _

_ 10:23 PM _

"Just up here," Ruby said as she led the group on foot.

It was around 9 when they arrived in New York. They ditched the truck and carried their supplies on their backs.

"Ruby, are you sure about this," Sun asked.

"I am fifty percent sure that they can help."

"Oh fuck," Neptune said.

"Here," Ruby pointed at the structure.

As Ruby walked up the steps, she froze just in front of the door. Looking down, Ruby saw her hands were shaking almost uncontrollably. Composing herself, Ruby slowly lifted her hand and tapped the door three times.

"This is a fucking mistake," Neptune said.

"We have nowhere else to go," Scarlett said.

"And what happens if they attack us," Neptune asked.

"Where would you go, Nep? Your folks would shoot us before reporting us, and the safe house here was compromised last year."

Neptune just sighed and said, "Whatever," as the light turned on.

"Whatever happens will happen. Let's just hope we're lucky," Sun said.

The door swung open, and Ruby was a mere inches away from a pistol barrel. 

"Wait, it's me," Ruby said as she waved her arms.

"R-Ruby," The woman asked as she lowered the gun.

"Hey, Raven," Ruby said.


	7. Returning Home (Ruby)

_ January 19th, 2041 _

_ 10:23 PM _

"Wait, it's me," Ruby said as she waved her arms.

"R-Ruby," The woman asked as she lowered the gun.

"Hey, Raven," Ruby said.

But Raven's expression shifted from confusion to anger as she looked back inside, "How are you even here?"

"Raven, my friends, and I need help. We need to stay somewhere safe for the night."

"And why should I help you after what you did to Tai," Raven asked.

There was an awkward silence as Sun said to the others, "Guys, why don't we watch the streets while these two talk."

As the others walked away, Ruby asked, "What are you talking about?"

Raven walked out and shut the door behind her, "Your father came home and me a bunch of questions: Where's Qrow? Where's Summer? Why was I in his house? He had no recollection of any events after Summer's accident. Tell me: Did you do that?"

Ruby was silent for a brief moment before asking, "...What happened?"

With tears in her eyes, Raven gave a small chuckle as she said, "I figured as much. I haven't told him yet. I haven't told him about you or Summer or even Qrow. I haven't even told him about..."

Ruby noticed Raven wipe her eyes as she placed a hand over her stomach.

Raven turned to open the door, "Leave the city while you can, Ruby, and don't ever come back.

As Ruby watched Raven slowly shut the door, Ruby said, "Do you want to know where I've been these last few weeks?"

Raven turned her head slightly, letting Ruby say one last thing.

"I was about to cross the border when I was shot in the stomach," Ruby said as she lifted her shirt to show the scar on her stomach, "I don't know how, but some soldiers saved me. Next thing I know, I was attached to a machine in Vermont where I was beaten, stabbed, shot, assaulted, starved, dehydrated, and electrocuted day and night. When I wasn't being tortured, I cried and begged for my life to end just so that I could be free of that nightmare."

Raven was silent as she slowly turned back to Ruby and saw the scar.

Ruby lowered her shirt and said, "I know that I have made mistakes, but I have paid for them. Please, Raven. Just for one night."

Ruby waited for Raven's answer with her heart beating almost out of her chest. Raven was silent for a brief moment before stepping to the side and motioning them to come in.

Ruby turned to the others and nodded.

"Come on, guys," Sun said as the group walked in.

When the others were inside, Ruby slowly walked in and said, "Thank you."

"One night."

Ruby nodded as the two walked into the house. Ruby felt a sense of nostalgia as she saw that almost everything was almost the same with a few differences. One noticeable one: Every photo of Ruby was missing.

Raven saw that Ruby noticed her photos missing and said, "Ruby--"

"It's fine," Ruby said as she walked over to the others.

"Stay here, and I'll get some blankets and pillows," Raven said as she walked away.

When she was out of earshot, Sun whispered to Ruby, "Are we safe here?"

"If she wanted to turn us in, then we would be in cuffs on the way to the station by now…"

The group then saw Raven return with the supplies.

"It isn't much, but it'll be better than sleeping with nothing."

Ruby walked up and took the supplies before saying, "Thank you."

"If you want, I've kept your room locked from Tai."

"Thanks," Ruby said as she looked at the others, "What about dad? Where is he?"

"You can talk to him in the morning. Now a few rules. The only rule: No Magic. If there are any signs of magic, and if I hear any Latin, you are all out of here."

After that last comment, Raven walked away.

Sun walked up to Ruby and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Good job, Ruby."

The two turned to the others as Sun said, "Okay, listen up. You heard her. No magic. Just because we have this temporary safe space doesn't mean that we can trash it—take out nothing other than the essentials. This means clothes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and sleeping bags."

As the others were setting up their sleeping arrangements, Ruby began to walk towards her room. As she walked past the entryway, she had a memory of her last time in the house.

_ I remember watching as Penny short-circuited, its eyes blinking on and off, its appendages twisting in circles before it collapsed into a pile, multiple currents of electricity flying towards my hand. I remember the tears in my eyes as Penny asked, 'M-M-M-Miss Rose-e-e? W-W-Why…' _

Walking past the kitchen, Ruby looked outside of the window and had a second memory.

_ "You got it, Ruby," Dad said, a smile on his face as I was finally able to ride the bike for the first time on my own. _

_ "Mommy! Look," I was so happy… you should have seen the smile on my face. _

_ "You're doing great, honey," Mom was still alive, and she was proud of me… what would she think of me now? _

Walking away from the window, Ruby made it to the hallway. Walking up to her door, Ruby grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

Once the door was fully open, Ruby saw a vision of herself staring into the mirror. The vision turned to look at the clock before walking to the bedside table. Ruby watched the vision pick up the picture of Ruby's mom and smashed it against the corner.

'So childish...'

Ruby closed her eyes as she felt her vision of Agent Callows circling her, 'I must admit that I found your little soapbox moment outside quite entertaining.'

Ruby could feel Callows' hand graze her shoulder.

'But we both know what you are: A pathetically vulnerable little monster.'

"Stop it," Ruby said.

'Why did you even bother coming back?'

'We were fine without you.'

'You should leave and never come back.'

Ruby fell to her knees, tears in her eyes as the voices got progressively louder. 

'I would rather kill you than let you go.'

And then... the voices were gone and Ruby was left there in her room.

Slowly lifting herself, Ruby fell against the bed and sat on the floor as she stared up at Agent Callows' vision.

'You will never escape.'

With that, Callows vanished, and Ruby looked at herself in the mirror while thinking, 'I should have died that day…'

_ January 20th, 2041 _

_ 12:13 AM _

"Director, please. We just need to search every safe house—"

"Agent Callows, we have been monitoring every known Grimm safe house from here to Miami, and we have no sightings of Wukong. The vehicle was last seen heading east on the highway, but went offroad," Director Salem said.

"Maybe if Callows was focused more on the Grimm instead of an old toy of his," Agent Washington said.

"Despite his failure in Lewiston, Callows has possibly given us a new chance at finding Liberteria. All we need to do is find the Grimm and bring them in. Especially after this," Director Salem said as she turned on the TV.

'Today marks one of the most eventful days in history. Just a few hours after announcing the completion of the G.G.B, the bill that resulted in the deaths of over seventy thousand Grimm, the leaders of Liberteria, who refer to themselves as the Elders, handed this statement to the Canadian media.'

_ 'President Ironwood, we did not ask for our abilities, and yet, you responded with cruelty. We asked for peace and equality, and you responded with imprisonment. When we knew that staying in the States was no longer safe, we tried to leave, and you responded with violence. You do not wish for us, and so we shall not return. To any Grimm who are left in the States… Liberteria will be waiting for you, and we shall welcome you with open arms.' _

'Shortly after this statement was released, the late Senator Hill's daughter commented on the piece--'

Director Salem turned off the TV and looked back to her agents, "If this group of Grimm crosses the border, we lose our last solid chance at finding Liberteria. Agent Washington, I want you to go to the hideout that Wukong was in Vermont, see if they left any clues. Agent Callows, go to New York. You say that Miss Rose and Mr. Versailles come from there. They might have gone there.

"Yes, ma'am," The two agents said.

"And Callows," Director Salem asked.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Bring Agent Maine with you."

Agent Callows chuckled, "With pleasure."


	8. Author's Note

** Hello everyone, I was looking at my first book. I felt as though I should go back and rewrite it to show more Robyn and Fiona moments to justify her being more of a character in this story. **

** I also feel that this story is not as good as the last one, so I plan to edit this one again. **


	9. Chapter 9

_ January 20th, 2041 _

_ 1:21 AM _

In the Xiao Long residence, one individual tossed and turned in her makeshift bed before she suddenly shot up, gasping, sweating, and frantically looking around to confirm where she was.

Once she realized that she was in her house, Ruby released a sigh of relief.

"Nightmare?"

Looking towards the window, Ruby saw that Sun was looking at her while sitting against the window frame. His attire consisted of a long sleeve t-shirt and his jeans.

As she stood up, Ruby said, "Is it a nightmare when it's like every other dream I have?"

Sun gave a small chuckle, "I guess you have a point. You want to talk about it?"

Walking up and sitting next to him, Ruby said, "I don't want to sound weird."

"Ruby, we're on the run from federal agents because we can cast spells and magic."

Ruby looked out into the cold as she said, "I was standing in front of a lone door in a pitch-black void and decided to knock on it. When the door opened, I saw Jaune standing there, and for a brief moment, I thought that it was actually him."

Sun noticed Ruby cracking a small smile. But that smile quickly vanished and was replaced with a look of sadness and horror. Curious, Sun asked, "What did he do?"

"He uh... He looked at me like I was a total stranger to him," Ruby smiled at Sun as tears streamed down her face, " The same look that my dad gave me back in the forest. When I tried to talk to him, he told me to leave and not come back, just like Raven told us... and then he slammed the door in my face. I called out to him and begged him to let me talk to him, but um... he never responded."

"Jesus," Sun said before noticing the expression on Ruby's face, "What else happened?"

"...I was screaming for him to come back out before I felt something pulling me from the door. I tried to move, but quickly found myself completely incapacitated. I felt my body slowly turning to face another door: a cell door. As it slowly opened, I could hear...  _ him _ from inside the cell, welcoming me 'home.'"

Sun was unsure how to respond to this story, so he chose to remain silent. On the other hand, Ruby felt her emotions begin to overwhelm her as she continued to speak her mind.

"I keep having these moments where I see him. It feels like he is standing over me... taunting me... saying things to make me feel like I was nothing. The same way that he did when I was his prisoner," Ruby said as she began to narrow her eyes and grit her teeth before she turned to Sun and said, "You should have let me kill him."

"We don't kill, Ruby."

"You might not," Ruby snapped.

"You think that I don't want that son of a bitch's head? He is responsible for a lot of Grimm deaths. But if we kill Callows now, then we would only catch the attention of Ironwood, and we would have more obstacles to deal with."

"I don't care. Not after what he did to me..."

"If you want to go out into the night, find Callows and try to kill him, then be our guest. Hell, Neo might marry you if you pull it off. But killing him would only make him out as a hero and put the rest of us all at risk. Would you risk the lives of Jaune and Coco over some vendetta?"

Ruby's angered expression lightened as she seemed to realize what Sun was saying.

Sun noticed this shift in emotion, so he placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder and said, "Let him fail and wallow in his misery," Sun said as he stood up, "We can talk about this later."

As Sun walked away, Ruby looked back out into the darkness.

'You don't actually buy that nonsense, do you?'

Ruby closed her eyes, refusing to look in the vision's direction.

'I mean, when you held my life in the palm of your hands, I could see your thoughts and feel your emotions. You wanted to kill me. The only thing that stopped you was him. What will happen when he isn't around to stop you?'

"..."

'I guess we will see when we reach that crossroad,' The voice said as it faded away.

Feeling her hands shaking, Ruby kept her eyes shut as she thought to herself.

'I should have died in that forest...'

_ January 20th, 2040 _

_ Queens, New York City _

_ 6:21 AM _

Agent Maine was sitting in the car, waiting for Agent Callows to get in. As he sat there, he looked outside and saw a bird land on the bumper. It stared at him, and he stared back with an equal level of curiosity. It titled its head, and he did the same. A smile slowly began to form on the Agent's face until the door opened, and the bird flew off.

The smile quickly vanished.

"Useless fucking cops, I tell you," Agent Callows said as he sat in the driver's seat and said, "Chief Schnee said that he is having his officers sweep CCTV cameras across all of Queens, which could take fucking hours."

"..."

"But we did get these," Agent Callows said as he handed Maine a folder.

Reading the contents, Maine listened to Callows continue.

"The addresses of relatives to either our two New York natives: Miss Rose and Mister Versailles."

_ January 20th, 2040 _

_ Queens, New York City _

_ 6:30 AM _

As the group was sleeping, a female figure walked into the main entryway and said, 'Oh goodness me, I did not realize that there was a slumber party going on here.'

Upon hearing an almost unfamiliar voice, everyone began to wake up and look at the figure.

'Good morning, everyone. Today is January 20th, 2040. The time is currently 6:30 in the morning. The weather will be a cloudy day with a 67% chance for snow throughout the day.'

As Ruby looked towards the figure, her eyes widened as she said, "P-Penny?"


End file.
